Rollo and the Windwright's Voyage

Adventure is rising on the wind. When a mysterious traveling aeronaut lands his patched-together hot air balloon in the Holiday family's snow-crusted meadow, young Rollo's world of childhood science experiments (valves, pumps, pressure, gravitation) suddenly becomes real, dangerous, and airborne. This is a 19th century adventure novel of flight, discovery, and family: a coming-of-age story steeped in classic Americana, homeschooling, natural philosophy, and old-fashioned wonder. Rollo, his cousin Lucy, his little brother Nathan, and the hired hand Jonas find themselves swept into a cross-country balloon voyage: chasing storms, outrunning gravity, solving riddles of buoyancy and air pressure, and uncovering the Windwright's own hidden past. Along the way, readers get real 1850s science (hydrogen gas, barometric pressure, combustion, condensation, thermals, ballast) wrapped inside a page-turning quest full of peril, humor, and heart. Every one of the 40 chapters closes with a set of discussion questions (a minimum of three per chapter), making this edition equally at home on a nightstand, in a homeschool curriculum, or at the center of a family book club. Perfect for fans of: classic children's literature, historical fiction, coming-of-age adventure, STEM for kids, educational fiction, balloon and flight stories, 19th century Americana, family adventure, Jacob Abbott, Rollo books, gentle mystery, nature and weather science, self-reliance and courage themes, book club discussion guides.